Reader question:

What does this sentence – It seems their whole pecking order in the pub revolves around how soon I acknowledge them and how long I talk to them – mean? Specifically what is "pecking order"?

My comments:

That sentence means that if, upon walking into the pub you nod to someone ahead of others in the group you make them feel important. Likewise, if you talk to, say, Tom for 10 minutes but only 6 seconds to Jerry, you make Tom look good and you make Jerry feel miserable.

Pecking order is the order in which birds take their turns to peck (eat). As Oxford Dictionary points out, pecking order is a "social hierarchy, as originally observed among hens".

As leaders of the pack, head hens (I like this, head hens) get to eat, drink and mate ahead of others. Among wolves and other beasts, it's the alpha male who gets to do the same things first. Among humans, leaders of a nation, heads of a company, school, family, etc, get to enjoy similar privileges, such as being able to walk in the front, or sit in the center, or speak first and for hours, or pick the best meat from the table.

In short, pecking order denotes the rankings observable in all types of societies, human or inhuman – I mean human or otherwise.

Here are examples to further illustrate the point.

1. The Final Word: Second-born kids face realities of the pecking order

【Pecking order】相关文章：

★ 课改体会——课堂教学快乐的源泉

★ 新概念英语第一册的学习之道

★ 名师指导:如何借鉴新概念英语的文章精华

★ 英语论文：小学英语教学中的人文性

★ 英语面试常见问题及答案

★ 巧妙设计小学英语课外作业

★ 任务型英语教学模式在《新目标英语》实际教学中的感想

★ 英语书面表达题型的解题技巧

★ 小学一年级英语音标学习视频8

★ 学英语靠习惯